Reality Check at the end of Day 2

As I suspected, sleeping in the gym was a little better last night. But still not great. Let’s just say I’m really looking forward to arriving in Steamboat for two reasons tomorrow. One, I get to see the wife & kids for a couple of days, an two I get to sleep in a hotel.

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Guest blogger Andrew Collins holding a sign in honor of loved ones on Day 2 of Ride the Rockies.

Today was a big reality check. Lots of adrenalin & endorphins carried most folks through a killer day one. So what did we get to do? Wake up & do it again.

I awoke with a severe crick in my neck, so bad in fact, I thought about not riding. But then I thought about my friend Jon Binsted. He has battled cancer and decided to get on my bike.

The weather was a better start at 41 degrees today, but a headwind for the 34 mile sustained climb to Leadville was not. Finding a good pace-line was definitely the name of the game this morning. I noticed a significant amount of bikes on the SAG vehicles today.

Of all the route destinations, I was most excited about passing through Leadville. The endurance sport geek in me really played to that. Leadville is home to not only an epic endurance run, but also the fabled mountain bike race. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in Leadville, really just enough time to fill my water & buy a shot glass. Then we were off to Tennessee Pass. Honestly it came & went without much fanfare. The decent however was pretty spectacular.

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The road up from Edwards to Buena Vista

Day two really belong to Battle Mountain. This climb was fairly easy to overlook on the map, but not in person. I kept thinking I was climbing something out of the Tour de France. Steep grade with absolutely amazing views. Fortunately for all, it was shorter in comparison to our other climbs. We were treated with our third high speed descent of the day.
The day stretched long as we passed through Minturn & Avon as we approached Edwards. It’s amazing what a headwind all day long can do to your spirits. Well I’m off to sleep on my little piece of the gym floor at Battle Mountain High School.

In 2012 I asked Bryan Boyle if he was interested in running the Chicago Marathon — two weeks later he asked if I was interested in Ride the Rockies. I got a road bike, got on the tour, and have yet to regret it. This will be my second RTR.